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Calvin Men’s Basketball Digs Down Deep For 66-63 Win at Albion

Saturday, January 05, 2013

ALBION - A determined Albion homecourt effort forced the Calvin men’s basketball team to dig down deep - and in the closing minutes, Calvin found an extra gear to hang on for a 66-63 conference victory at Albion’s venerable Kresge Gymnasium.

Saturday’s contest proved to be a nip-and-tuck affair with neither team able to stretch a lead beyond six points. After the two teams were tied at 28 at halftime, neither team would lead by more than three points in the second half with the Britons and Knights trading leads seven times in the second half.

Sophomore Jordan Brink (Dyer, IN/Illiana Christian HS) hit two clutch triples down the stretch for the Knights on a day that Calvin struggled from beyond the arc. Brink’s first triple of the game gave the Knights a 57-55 lead with 2:55 to play. He then swished another trifecta with 1:22 to go to give the Knights a 61-59 lead. Albion tied the game at 61 on a driving layup by Mike Smith with 50 seconds remaining but with the shot clock ticking down, Calvin senior Tom Snikkers (Jenison/Unity Christian HS) was fouled with 21 seconds remaining. Snikkers then split a pair of free throws to give Calvin a 62-61 advantage.

Calvin then came up with a big defensive stop as junior Mickey DeVries (Lansing/Lansing Christian HS) got in the way of an Albion jump shot, corralled the rebound and was fouled with six seconds remaining. DeVries then nailed both ends of a bonus opportunity to put the Knights up 64-61. Calvin fouled two seconds later to prevent an Albion game-tying three-point attempt. Albion’s Anthony Wash connected on both free throws to bring the Brits within 64-63 but Calvin’s Brink was fouled on the ensuing inbounds possession and swished a pair of free throws with 3.4 seconds remaining. A desperation three-point attempt from near mid-court by Albion was then off the mark, allowing the Knights to claim the win.

“It wasn’t easy but I knew it would be like that,” said Calvin men’s basketball coach Kevin Vande Streek after the game. “I told our guys beforehand to expect every team in our league to give us their best shot and Albion certainly did that today. We struggled with our shooting but I thought our mental toughness inside the final three or four minutes was excellent.”

Calvin (11-2 overall, 2-0 MIAA) was led by Snikkers who tallied 24 points on 9-of-13 shooting to go with seven rebounds. Brink had 16 points including 10 in the second half. Senior David Rietema (Grand Rapids/Grand Rapids Christian HS) added eight points, four rebounds and two assists.

Albion (4-9 overall, 0-2 MIAA) was led by Jordan Herron with 12 points while Wash had 11.

Calvin shot 40.7 percent overall but connected on just 20 percent (4-of-20) from three-point range. The Knights did connect on 18-of-22 (.818) at the charity stripe however while Albion was 9-of-12 (.750) at the free throw line.

Calvin will travel to Kalamazoo next Wednesday for a 7:30 p.m contest at the Anderson Athletic Center.